Organizers for Pride San Antonio announced today that Richard L. Durbin, Jr., the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, will be among the local dignitaries to appear in the Pride Parade on July 2.

Durbin, who is based in San Antonio, has served as U.S. Attorney since 2014. According to his bio, “Durbin is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Texas School of Law. He has been an adjunct professor at the St. Mary’s University School of Law for over fifteen years, and taught in the summer program at Beihang University in Beijing, China.”

“Durbin’s participation is amazing and groundbreaking,” James Poindexter, board secretary for Pride San Antonio told Out In SA.

Not too many years ago, participation by local politicians and dignitaries in the Pride Parade was very rare. Most would just ignore invitations sent by parade officials.

The tide began to turn after Police Chief William McManus served as Grand Marshal in 2007 and then-Mayor Julian Castro was Grand Marshal in 2009. Both were lambasted in the media by local Christian extremists but since then the stigma has eased for other high-profile participants.

Poindexter says Councilman Saldana’s office also is providing volunteers for the parade. “Talk about public service. He’s making a huge statement.”

Invitations were sent to the entire City Council. According to Poindexter, District 5 City Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales had initially accepted the invitation to participate but later had to cancel her appearance.

On June 22, Pride San Antonio announced the Grand Marshals for the parade are Judge Ron Rangel of the 379th District Court and Judge Genie Wright of County Court 7. Spirit Marshal is local LGBT activist John Nunez.

According to Poindexter, there are 80 parade entries, “and counting,” making this year’s the longest Pride Parade in San Antonio history.

The Pride San Antonio Festival and Parade, July 2 at Crockett Park. For complete information check out the Pride SA website.